Day 18 of 30-Day KAT-TUN Challenge
Day 18 - Favorite OTP or member-ai moment
Today's prompt might be my favorite of this meme so just forewarning that I might get a bit carried away. I love member interactions in general but I especially love them when it comes to interactions with Maru. Everybody loves this guy and he's the glue that holds KAT-TUN together. Maru/anyone is valid in my eyes but of course I have my bias too.
My favorite OTP and member-ai moment both involve Maru of course but the paired member is different for each so I'm posting about both. Also as per usual, I'll end up posting more than is necessary because it's just more fun that way.
My favorite OTP is MaruDa!!!
Why do I love this pairing...
1. The friendship between the two is really sweet.
-They always go out to eat or go shopping together.
-They even travel in their private time together.
-They mention each other in interviews a lot
-Their interactions with one another is as natural as air.
Excerpt from a crosstalk between Maru and Ueda in Myojo 2009.12 (Full interview here and credit to daphuni )
Ueda: "It's not like I want to go places with Nakamaru, but when I do feel like going somewhere, why's it Nakamaru...
Nakamaru: In that regard, same here! It's gradually been 10 years of "Somehow it's Ueda", "When did it become Nakamaru?". We also started working in the same year. It seems as natural as air, and it seems that we've both forgotten a bunch, but between the two of us, we have quite a few memories
This fanvid made by teshi_love pretty much sums it all up very nicely
2. Because they're so close you don't even need to make up stuff to fangirl over.
They provide enough real content to satisfy any fangirl ^_^
-They went to the lavender fields together for goodness sake!
-Maru said this about Ueda in the World Big Tour 2010 pamphlet
"Being with Ueda was probably the destiny"
Credit to murasaki_kyokai and yuijbj
-On R-One in the Nakamaru-Jiichan preaching corner, the subject of falling asleep on strangers on the bus was discussed
and Ueda said:
"Ahh Nakamaru kun's also the type that will lean to the side ne! I've been your victim for countless times!"
I want to sit next to Maru on the bus too
Credit to kattunsaikou
And the list could go on...
3. The pictures of these two are gorgeous.
-Seriously, just having these two stand next to each other and it's like magic O___O
Like for example this picture...
Maru has a gorgeous smile on his face and pretty Ueda is stealing a glance happily looking at his smiley friend.
4. When they sing together it's like heaven to the ears.
-Their voices mesh together so well.
All I have to say is two words...Your Side
It sounds even better than the group version O_O
Maru said this ages ago in Duet 2007.06 issue (credit to problemchild518 )
(directed to Ueda)
"Starting from tomorrow, wanna compose a song from your music and my lyrics? I’ll be waiting for your music, so yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Rock is fine. The image and theme can be ‘world peace’, how’s that? ‘Tokyo’ or ‘Electrical Appliances’ is fine."
(Electrical appliances?! so random lol)
I really want an official released duet song with the 2 of them to become a reality. Pretty please??? *puppy eyes*
How about some more pics :)
And lastly before I go to my favorite member-ai moment, how about some more MaruDa goodies...
puffie_hanchan makes really cute MaruDa chibis.
Here is a cute dojinshi involving MaruDa as school children
Paper!chibi series: Green Yucchi and not-so-green Tacchan, Yucchi is caught red-handed , bibiri Nakamaru
MaruDa fanfic recs - all of these are fluffy, romantic maybe with a touch of angst
ueboaffection 's fics (Honestly just read all her fics but here's a sampling)
Title - Birthday Present
Genre - Crack, angst
Rating - PG-13
Status - One-Shot
Author Summary - Maru is frustrated knowing that he lost to a vacuum cleaner.
Title - Broken Promises
Genre - A bit of angst
Rating - PG
Status - One-shot in 2 parts: Part 1 | Part II
Author Summary: The years that they had spent, built together…whether those memories were happy or sad, everything would be remembered, everything would be cherished. But the bitter and heart breaking memories; are they better off forgotten…?
Title - From Me to You
Genre - Fluff, AU
Rating - G-PG
Status - Ongoing Multi-chapter : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Author Summary - True love - nothing needs to be said, nothing needs to be heard. Just by being together, I hope my overflowing feelings will reach you
Author - kyoko_godaikun
Title - Red Thread of Destiny
Genre - Fantasy, AU
Rating - PG
Status - One-shot
Author Summary - Both Ueda and Maru have a secret in this universe where Magical People really exist.
Author - ardentsinner
Title - Painted Nails
Genre - Romance, Drama
Rating - PG-13
Status - Incomplete with 11 chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
Author Summary - Something is amiss with Ueda, and Maru is very aware of it. Maru wants to help, but would Ueda let him? Or is Maru the one in need of helping?
Warning - This is a really well-written fic but read at your own risk because it is unfinished (and sadly may never be finished T_T) and ends at a rather heartbreaking spot.
So I got a bit carried away with MaruDa but finally I will post my fav member-ai moment.
You're probably thinking why doesn't it involve Ueda? Because there are so many MaruDa moments that I don't want to choose one and it's hard for any member-ai moment to beat this one because it is that wonderful.
My favorite member-ai moment is the letters that Maru and Koki wrote to each other on Shounen Club in 2003. I sadly can't find the video on YouTube anymore but it went like this:
Maru:
I would like to convey the feelings that I can't normally say out in this letter.
Dear Tanaka Koki-sama,
Frankly speaking, the first time I met you, despite being two years younger, you were pretty conceited and practically noisy. I was very sure that I couldn't get along with him. But after hanging around with him, I gradually got to see the other side of him. "There's no one else besides him that I can do a comedic duo with." That was what I thought.
When I couldn't come up with any ideas for our skits, Koki was the one who brought forth many ideas, and his exaggerating high reactions helped out our lame jokes. You immediately covered for me when I made mistakes. In private, when I was feeling down, you would invite me to movies and we would reflect deeply on what we've done and got ourselves excited. You taught me break dance and rap too.
Whenever we go out to eat ramen, Koki will definitely ask for extra toppings, but he also will definitely give me half of it. I seriously owe you a lot. From now on too, let's improve ourselves and work hard together.
From Nakamaru Yuichi
Koki:
Dear Partner,
Reflecting back, it's been one and a half years since both of us started the TaNaka duo. But lately, it's getting really irritating. The fact that it's getting boring is all Nakamaru's fault. Your tsukkomi timing is wrong, you always make mistakes at the most important times, all the hard work are like efforts in vain. And we really did that joke a lot, "Coffee cup".
And also, last time, we promised to meet somewhere and I was late but you still waited for me for 6 hours. Thank you for that. At that time, I couldn't tell you the reason. But now only I can tell you. Actually, I was asleep. I'm very very sorry.
For me, now, I have two friends that I would protect even if I have to sacrifice my life. And that one of the two is Nakamaru Yuichi. That's all I want to say. Bye.
*Sniff* What a beautiful friendship *___*
Credit to hikarukaorulurv and the subbed video can be downloaded here.
Honorable Mention (What there's more ?! O_O)
Because I love this pairing almost as much as I love MaruDa so it deserves mentioning,
NakaNishi
I know Jin is no longer a part of KAT-TUN and many would argue that he's not supposed to be included in this meme. But to hell with that. I missed my chance to flail over this pair while he was still part of the group so I'm taking my time now to flail to my heart's desire because I've come to really love these two.
Why?
1. The bullying is glorious
-Jin picks on Maru every single chance he gets but Maru gets his revenge by hitting Jin or attacking his weak spot.
When I went to Jin's Yellow Gold Tour 3010 con this year, one of his dancers attacked his collarbones during one of the songs.
It honestly made me feel a bit sad that Maru wasn't the one doing it :(
2. Hokkaido Batsu Game - Best episodes of CTKT
3. Even during the later years with Moody Akanishi, whenever Maru was involved, he seemed to smile more.
Pay attention to smiley Jin in the corner ^^
4. I honestly think that they are friends.
This is an excerpt from Jin's KAT-TUN Manual No. 43
There were also many different people who came to watch the performance
In Johnny's so far, there have been Matsujun, Ryo chan, P, Taguchi, Nakamaru something kun, Kisumai, everyone in ABC and JUMP, and also Nakamaru something kun and so on
Thank you very much
Notice that he mentioned Maru twice ^_^. The full manual can be found here and credit to estherzax
Maru also went to Jin's Fanclub Farewell show in October of this year.
5. Due to Jin's influence, Maru actually voluntarily did some fanservice.
Here's a fanvid made by teshi_love . Pay particular attention at 2:20 :)
Some more pics because they look gorgeous together too ^^
and lastly this gif of Maru "stealing" Jin's blown kisses because it's just too cute XD
Ok and one more thing because I really like this particular NakaNishi fanfic. I honestly think even people who don't like this pairing or aren't even into pairings in general can still enjoy this fic
Author - yamakame
Title - Way Up High, Or Down Low
Genre - Crack, AU
Rating - PG-13
Author Summary - Jin is a demon who wants to form a boy band to take over the world. Yuichi is an accountant in Heaven.
Author - yamakame
Title - Monogamy is a SIn in Hell
Genre - Crack, AU
Rating - PG-13
Author Summary - A continuation to Way Up High, or Down Low.
There are some other NakaNishi fics I like but since I've already written a novel for this post. I'll end it with that.
Whew, that was a lot. I'm done for today, for real ^_^;;
I hope you enjoyed all the pairing love :)
Today's prompt might be my favorite of this meme so just forewarning that I might get a bit carried away. I love member interactions in general but I especially love them when it comes to interactions with Maru. Everybody loves this guy and he's the glue that holds KAT-TUN together. Maru/anyone is valid in my eyes but of course I have my bias too.
My favorite OTP and member-ai moment both involve Maru of course but the paired member is different for each so I'm posting about both. Also as per usual, I'll end up posting more than is necessary because it's just more fun that way.
My favorite OTP is MaruDa!!!
Why do I love this pairing...
1. The friendship between the two is really sweet.
-They always go out to eat or go shopping together.
-They even travel in their private time together.
-They mention each other in interviews a lot
-Their interactions with one another is as natural as air.
Excerpt from a crosstalk between Maru and Ueda in Myojo 2009.12 (Full interview here and credit to daphuni )
Ueda: "It's not like I want to go places with Nakamaru, but when I do feel like going somewhere, why's it Nakamaru...
Nakamaru: In that regard, same here! It's gradually been 10 years of "Somehow it's Ueda", "When did it become Nakamaru?". We also started working in the same year. It seems as natural as air, and it seems that we've both forgotten a bunch, but between the two of us, we have quite a few memories
This fanvid made by teshi_love pretty much sums it all up very nicely
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
2. Because they're so close you don't even need to make up stuff to fangirl over.
They provide enough real content to satisfy any fangirl ^_^
-They went to the lavender fields together for goodness sake!
-Maru said this about Ueda in the World Big Tour 2010 pamphlet
"Being with Ueda was probably the destiny"
Credit to murasaki_kyokai and yuijbj
-On R-One in the Nakamaru-Jiichan preaching corner, the subject of falling asleep on strangers on the bus was discussed
and Ueda said:
"Ahh Nakamaru kun's also the type that will lean to the side ne! I've been your victim for countless times!"
I want to sit next to Maru on the bus too
Credit to kattunsaikou
And the list could go on...
3. The pictures of these two are gorgeous.
-Seriously, just having these two stand next to each other and it's like magic O___O
Like for example this picture...
Maru has a gorgeous smile on his face and pretty Ueda is stealing a glance happily looking at his smiley friend.
4. When they sing together it's like heaven to the ears.
-Their voices mesh together so well.
All I have to say is two words...Your Side
Click to viewIt sounds even better than the group version O_O
Maru said this ages ago in Duet 2007.06 issue (credit to problemchild518 )
(directed to Ueda)
"Starting from tomorrow, wanna compose a song from your music and my lyrics? I’ll be waiting for your music, so yoroshiku onegaishimasu. Rock is fine. The image and theme can be ‘world peace’, how’s that? ‘Tokyo’ or ‘Electrical Appliances’ is fine."
(Electrical appliances?! so random lol)
I really want an official released duet song with the 2 of them to become a reality. Pretty please??? *puppy eyes*
How about some more pics :)
And lastly before I go to my favorite member-ai moment, how about some more MaruDa goodies...
puffie_hanchan makes really cute MaruDa chibis.
Here is a cute dojinshi involving MaruDa as school children
Paper!chibi series: Green Yucchi and not-so-green Tacchan, Yucchi is caught red-handed , bibiri Nakamaru
MaruDa fanfic recs - all of these are fluffy, romantic maybe with a touch of angst
ueboaffection 's fics (Honestly just read all her fics but here's a sampling)
Title - Birthday Present
Genre - Crack, angst
Rating - PG-13
Status - One-Shot
Author Summary - Maru is frustrated knowing that he lost to a vacuum cleaner.
Title - Broken Promises
Genre - A bit of angst
Rating - PG
Status - One-shot in 2 parts: Part 1 | Part II
Author Summary: The years that they had spent, built together…whether those memories were happy or sad, everything would be remembered, everything would be cherished. But the bitter and heart breaking memories; are they better off forgotten…?
Title - From Me to You
Genre - Fluff, AU
Rating - G-PG
Status - Ongoing Multi-chapter : 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7
Author Summary - True love - nothing needs to be said, nothing needs to be heard. Just by being together, I hope my overflowing feelings will reach you
Author - kyoko_godaikun
Title - Red Thread of Destiny
Genre - Fantasy, AU
Rating - PG
Status - One-shot
Author Summary - Both Ueda and Maru have a secret in this universe where Magical People really exist.
Author - ardentsinner
Title - Painted Nails
Genre - Romance, Drama
Rating - PG-13
Status - Incomplete with 11 chapters: 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11
Author Summary - Something is amiss with Ueda, and Maru is very aware of it. Maru wants to help, but would Ueda let him? Or is Maru the one in need of helping?
Warning - This is a really well-written fic but read at your own risk because it is unfinished (and sadly may never be finished T_T) and ends at a rather heartbreaking spot.
So I got a bit carried away with MaruDa but finally I will post my fav member-ai moment.
You're probably thinking why doesn't it involve Ueda? Because there are so many MaruDa moments that I don't want to choose one and it's hard for any member-ai moment to beat this one because it is that wonderful.
My favorite member-ai moment is the letters that Maru and Koki wrote to each other on Shounen Club in 2003. I sadly can't find the video on YouTube anymore but it went like this:
Maru:
I would like to convey the feelings that I can't normally say out in this letter.
Dear Tanaka Koki-sama,
Frankly speaking, the first time I met you, despite being two years younger, you were pretty conceited and practically noisy. I was very sure that I couldn't get along with him. But after hanging around with him, I gradually got to see the other side of him. "There's no one else besides him that I can do a comedic duo with." That was what I thought.
When I couldn't come up with any ideas for our skits, Koki was the one who brought forth many ideas, and his exaggerating high reactions helped out our lame jokes. You immediately covered for me when I made mistakes. In private, when I was feeling down, you would invite me to movies and we would reflect deeply on what we've done and got ourselves excited. You taught me break dance and rap too.
Whenever we go out to eat ramen, Koki will definitely ask for extra toppings, but he also will definitely give me half of it. I seriously owe you a lot. From now on too, let's improve ourselves and work hard together.
From Nakamaru Yuichi
Koki:
Dear Partner,
Reflecting back, it's been one and a half years since both of us started the TaNaka duo. But lately, it's getting really irritating. The fact that it's getting boring is all Nakamaru's fault. Your tsukkomi timing is wrong, you always make mistakes at the most important times, all the hard work are like efforts in vain. And we really did that joke a lot, "Coffee cup".
And also, last time, we promised to meet somewhere and I was late but you still waited for me for 6 hours. Thank you for that. At that time, I couldn't tell you the reason. But now only I can tell you. Actually, I was asleep. I'm very very sorry.
For me, now, I have two friends that I would protect even if I have to sacrifice my life. And that one of the two is Nakamaru Yuichi. That's all I want to say. Bye.
*Sniff* What a beautiful friendship *___*
Credit to hikarukaorulurv and the subbed video can be downloaded here.
Honorable Mention (What there's more ?! O_O)
Because I love this pairing almost as much as I love MaruDa so it deserves mentioning,
NakaNishi
I know Jin is no longer a part of KAT-TUN and many would argue that he's not supposed to be included in this meme. But to hell with that. I missed my chance to flail over this pair while he was still part of the group so I'm taking my time now to flail to my heart's desire because I've come to really love these two.
Why?
1. The bullying is glorious
-Jin picks on Maru every single chance he gets but Maru gets his revenge by hitting Jin or attacking his weak spot.
When I went to Jin's Yellow Gold Tour 3010 con this year, one of his dancers attacked his collarbones during one of the songs.
It honestly made me feel a bit sad that Maru wasn't the one doing it :(
2. Hokkaido Batsu Game - Best episodes of CTKT
3. Even during the later years with Moody Akanishi, whenever Maru was involved, he seemed to smile more.
Pay attention to smiley Jin in the corner ^^
4. I honestly think that they are friends.
This is an excerpt from Jin's KAT-TUN Manual No. 43
There were also many different people who came to watch the performance
In Johnny's so far, there have been Matsujun, Ryo chan, P, Taguchi, Nakamaru something kun, Kisumai, everyone in ABC and JUMP, and also Nakamaru something kun and so on
Thank you very much
Notice that he mentioned Maru twice ^_^. The full manual can be found here and credit to estherzax
Maru also went to Jin's Fanclub Farewell show in October of this year.
5. Due to Jin's influence, Maru actually voluntarily did some fanservice.
Here's a fanvid made by teshi_love . Pay particular attention at 2:20 :)
You can watch this video on www.livejournal.com
Some more pics because they look gorgeous together too ^^
and lastly this gif of Maru "stealing" Jin's blown kisses because it's just too cute XD
Ok and one more thing because I really like this particular NakaNishi fanfic. I honestly think even people who don't like this pairing or aren't even into pairings in general can still enjoy this fic
Author - yamakame
Title - Way Up High, Or Down Low
Genre - Crack, AU
Rating - PG-13
Author Summary - Jin is a demon who wants to form a boy band to take over the world. Yuichi is an accountant in Heaven.
Author - yamakame
Title - Monogamy is a SIn in Hell
Genre - Crack, AU
Rating - PG-13
Author Summary - A continuation to Way Up High, or Down Low.
There are some other NakaNishi fics I like but since I've already written a novel for this post. I'll end it with that.
Whew, that was a lot. I'm done for today, for real ^_^;;
I hope you enjoyed all the pairing love :)